With typical aircraft having fuselage barrels made from metal, the fuselage barrels include multiple, pre-existing, interconnected segments. Often, the interconnected segments of a conventional fuselage barrel made from metal are coupled together at lap joints when the aircraft is initially assembled prior to first operation of the aircraft. When damage to such a conventional fuselage barrel occurs, the segment or segments of the interconnected segments containing the damage are separated along production splices, removed from the fuselage barrel, and replaced with an undamaged segment or segments. Because conventional fuselage barrels made from metal are initially manufactured to have a multi-piece construction, repair of damage to a conventional fuselage barrel made from metal can be accomplished with relative ease.
Technologically-advanced materials, such as fiber-reinforced polymers, allow for the construction of a one-piece fuselage barrel, which eliminates the need to interconnect numerous panels around the fuselage barrel. Conventional methods of removing and replacing fuselage panels are inadequate for a fuselage barrel made of a once-piece construction. For example, conventional methods of repairing damage to a fuselage barrel having a one-piece construction can be difficult, time-consuming, and expensive, and result in undesirable aesthetics.